Wireless-controlled steering mechanism.



KpDOUGAN.

WlRELESS CONTROLLED STEERING MECHANISM APPUCATION may/Win21. 1910.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 'SHEETSSHEET 1.

K.,DOUGAN.'

WIRELESS CONTROLLED STEERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.2I| I910.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ami/ menses K. DOUGAN. WiRELESS CONTROLLED STEERING MECHANISM.

- APPLiCATlOM FILED APR.Z1.1910. 151L$6$ Patentfi Aug. 31, 1915.

- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

DOUGAN. WIRELESS GOfiTROLLED STEERING MECHANISM.

MPLWMWN FILED APR, 21. I910.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

orrion KENNEDY DOUGAN, OF MLIN'lll'EAIEGILLES, MINNESOTA.

WIRELESS-CONTROLLED STEERING MECHANISM.

specification of Letters'Patent.

Application filed Apri121, 1910. Serial No. 556,855.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I. hnNNiioY Douonrg'a I citizen of the United States, residing at drawing.

.anism,

vice. Fig. '1

. Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in l/Vireless- Controlled Steering Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying My invention relates to improvements in wireless controlled steering mechanism.

The object of this invention is to provide improved. mechanism for steering dirigible hodies (such as torpedoes) by the agency of radio electric wayes, otherwise termed Hertzian .or-aerial waves. 7

A mechanical part of this apparatus consists in a motion-controlling mechanism which I have disclosed and claimed in two pending applications entitled Motion governing mechanism, Patent No. 1,071,895 filed July 9th 1908, and Automatic stering mech- Serial No. 1412,? 91 filed July 9th 1908.

' The present invention consists in the combination with such a mechanism, of certain mechanical and electromagnetic means for controlling its operation, and a. relay controlling the electromagnetic means.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a mechanism embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a detail section viewed on line 2 of Fig. 6. Fig. 3 is a'sectional elevation viewed on line 33 of Fig. 1, omitting the rudder. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the controlling pawl. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view of a retarding deis a. purely diagrammatic view illustrating a modification. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of another modification. Fig. 9 is a. side elevation showing a slight modification of Fig. 8 in respect to the springs 52. Figs. 10 and 11 are a top plan and a side elevation of another modification. Fig. 12

. is a top plan yiewof the differential gear as shown on Fig. 3 of the drawings.

In Fig. 3 the letter A des1gnates a differential gearing. The mechanism comprises 4 two rotary shafts 2 and 41, driven by worm or other gears 5 by a shaft 6 driven continuously by a small motor 7 (Fig. 1 Shafts 2. a, have ratchet wheels 8. 8 rotatable thereon. Also rotatable on said shafts are two pinions 9, one of which is shown on sh a sector or curved rack 10, keyed upon -'lin Fig. 3. Said pinions mesh witha rock-shaft 11. Also keyed upon shaft 11. area crank 12 and arms 13 of a swinging Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

clutch 14:. Said crank is operatively con;

nected with the rudder 15, by means of connecting rod 18 and'a crank 16 fixed upon the rudder shaft 17. Said cranks are preferably of equal length so that the angular range of rock-shaft 11 may be made equal to that of the rudder shaft;

19 is a chamber containing a liquid and containing pivotal bearings for a small vertical shaft 20. Fixed upon shaft 20 Within this chamber are a float 21 and one or more vanes 22. The liquid may be water, heavy oil, or any other liquid. When turning offort is applied to shaft 20 the liquid retards the motion of the vanes. The retardation is increased by providing the chamber with radial partitions 23.

The shaft or spindle has fixed thereon the hub of a bell-crank lever 24, 25. The arm 21 is a pawl-arm and carries a double acting stop-pawl26 poised between the ratchet-s 8, 8". The other armcarries a light piece of soft iron 27, and is urged in one direction by a weak spring 28. The action of spring 28 is opposed to that of an electromagnet 29, positioned to attract the armature 27 and thereby shift the pawl-arm 2-1 against the action of the spring 28. The magnet is rigidly mounted on the base 30 of the frame 31.

The winding of magnet 29 is connected in series with a battery 32 andrelay contacts 33. The winding of the relay 34 is connected in the usual or preferred way with the terminals of a receiver 35, which is shown as a Branley coherer, and in circuit with said winding is a battery cell 36. A wire 37 is led up through a mast (-not shown) if in a torpedo, and may be termed the aerial or mast wire. Qne terminal of the receiver is connected with said wire 37 and the other terminal grounded, as at 38, by connection with the shell of the torpedo.

The operating apparatus (not shown) consists of any of the well-known transmit ting and wave generating outfits and is located on a ship or on land, according to cir cumstances. 2

The operation of the mechanism shown iii started to running before the torpedo is launched, and "uns continuously. As a modification the shaft 6fmay bedriven by the propeller inc-tor, through suitable gearing. The ruddefiwfll be held in any position to which it may be moved, by the friction of the packing through which its shaft extends. But should a greater degree of friction be required, it can be provided, by suitable means. Gearing A, 9, (Fig. 3) is arranged as in my said application Serial 'No. 442,791 so thatstopping of either ratchet gear 10 and clutch 14 in the direction of arrow I). The pawl is shown depressed by ratchet 8 and just starting to be pulledaway by the clutch 14. The pull of the magnet should be about double that of the opposed spring 28. Due to the'constant pull of the spring 28, the gears 5A-9 driven by the motor will turn the rudder, step by step, in one direction only, except at such times as the magnet 29 overcomes said spring and Causes the pawl to engage the other ratchet 8, the result being an opposite movement of the sector gear 10, shaft 11 and the rudder. Repeated actions ofthe magnet,

or of the spring 28 are required to cause the rudder to shift through any considerable angle. This insures accuracy of steering. The steering of the torpedo at an object, either fixed or moving, is performed by en ergizing the magnet intermittently, as here inafter described.

The retarding device within the chamber 19 is so adjusted as to permlt but slow motion of the pawl-arm 24; for example, the

complete throw of the pawl from ratchet to ratchet might consume ten seconds. During, say, fourfifths of this interval the rudder is not turned in either direction. The retarding device is especially useful when steering in a straight line, because by its action the frequency of the movements of the rudder is much reduced.

For steering on curves, the action-of the magnet 29, or of the spring 28, is'allowed to predominate, according to the direction of the. curve. I

It is obvious that other 'force, such as permanent magnetism may be substituted for that of the spring 28;

' Described more in detail, the operation of shiftin therudder in one direction, as controlled by the spring 28, is as follows: Pawl 26 engages ratchet 8" which, turning in direction of arrow a, rocks the pawl and jams menses the lugs 26 in slot 14". The instant the ratchet is stopped the pinion 9 starts, turning gear 10, shaft 11, clutch 1314, crank 12, crank 16 and rudder 15 indirection of arrows Said movement of clutch'13-.-14 carries pawl 26 out of engagement with ratchet 8, but the instant it is fully disengaged the clutch stops, and the pawl is re-' stored to normal by springs 26, thus freeing the lugs 26, The constant pressure of spring 28 then starts the pawl into reengagement with thesame ratchet and the operation is repeated until the operatorcloses his key. That energizes magnet 29, which draws armature 2.7 and moves pawl=arm and pawl to the left, the latter engaging ratchet 8, which, turning in direction of arrow 0, rocks the pawl and jams the lugs 26 in slot 14. The instant the ratchet is stopped the other ,pinion 9' (not shown) starts, turning gear 10, shaft 11, clutch 14, crank 12, etc., in a direction opposite to arrow I). Said movement of the clutch carries the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet, the ratchet stops, and the pawl is restored to normal 26", thus freeing the lugs 26. This operation will be repeated immediately if the V position relative to its carrier by springs.

disclosed in Fig. 28 of my pending app'lication Motion governing mechanism Patent No. 1,671,885 may be employed. Such a mechanism 1s constructed exactly like that shown in Fig. 1 hereof, eXcept that one of the ratchets 8, with its driving gears, is dispensed with and a spring is applied to the rudder for urging the rudder in the direction'opposite in which it is turned by the mechanism. 'As shown in Fig. 7, the tension spring 40 is connected with a crank-arm '41 fixed on the rudder shaft 42, at such an angle as to draw the rudder 43 to one side. The motions of the rudder are retarded by a dashpot 44. The spring .40 thus performing the function of one of the ratchet gear mechanisms controlled by the pawl 26, the pawl-arm spring 28 is now dispensed with. The operation will be exactly as described in connection with Fig. 1, except that when the radio waves are not being sent out the rudder will be slowly turning toward one side,-which motion can be checked and reversed at any time by application of the radio waves.

This invention provides more accurate control of the rudder than is possible by the use of a motor geared directly to the rudder, themotor being started and stopped. It is also more accurate than any construction in which the-motor runs continuously and the A pow'er is applied to and released from the rudder by means of a clutch. -At the same time the action of this mechanism is suficiently rapid in cases when a quick turn of the rudder is necessary.

The controlling of the mechanism by a single wireless receiver is based upon information that at the present date it is not praclTiCEll'ilQ to work selectively two or more such receivers located in close proximity. Should direction, and by letting the ratchet wheelstand in certain positions the controlling pawl may be held at neutral position.

Asshown in dotted lines, Fig-8, 1O designates the sector gear- 8, 8, the ratchets 14 the slotted clutch member, and 12 the crank for actuating the rudder, which is omitted.

In this construction the pawl-arm 4:8 is fixed on a pivot 49, the bottom bearing of which is recessed in the upper end of the rock-shaft-ll. The pawl-arm has an extension 48. A lever arm 50 has a hub 51 mounted to turn freely on the pivot 49 relative to the pawl-arm 48. The arm 48 and lever 50 are held normally in alinement by a tension-spring 52, formed in a flat'zigzag shape connecting the end of the extension 48" to a stud 53 on lever 50. This spring may be of the coil type as shown in Fig. 8, or of the straight type as shown in Fig. 9. Said lever is provided with a longitudinal slot 54'which receives an. eccentric pin 55, carried by a small rotative disk 56 with which a toothed pinion 57 is fixed upon a shaft 58. Said pinion is driven by a gear 59 and a ratchet wheel 60, fixed upon a shaft 61, as shown, but may be driven as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The object is to turn and stop the eccentric .pin at four points 90 degrees apart, by stopping the ratchet 60. The proportionsshown are such that each tooth of the ratchet corresponds to one-quarter revolution of the eccentric 55. But it is obvious that the ratchet teeth may be shorter, so that several steps might be emp'loyed toturn the eccentric 90 degrees. In position 55 or 55 the eccentric holds the lever 50 and pawl-arm 48 at neutral position,

and in quartering positions 55 and 55 it holds the lever 50 at an angle to one side or v the other.

' w I claim any mechanical equivalent of the eccentric pin and slot lever, as there are -many movements for changing rotary into idly supports the core 63, thus eliminating all unnecessary friction on arm or core. The solenoid is to be connected in a local circuit comprising a battery and controlled by a relay, the same as shown in Fig. .1. Pawlarm 6% is returned to starting by a spring 66. A detent 67 prevents backward rotation of the ratchet 60. Forward slip is prevented by a friction spring 68, or its equivae lent.

The purpose of making the pawl-lever 50 separate from the pawl-arm 48 and attaching a spring 52, is to permit the action of the swinging clutch member 1% on the pawl 26 and its arm 48 when retracting the pawls' During such movement the spring 52 yields, permitting the pawl-arm 48 to turn on pivot all) while the lever remains stationary.

The arms 48 and 50 together constitute a lever which is, in effect, flexible. in fact, the two arms may be made integral provided that one of them be made of resilient mate rial yielding in the plane of movement thereof.

By means of the eccentric 55 the operator can hold the pawl 26 at neutral position as long as may be required, the rudder angle being determined by the angle of crank 12.

Successive actions of the solenoid 62 will throw the pawl to right, to center, to left, to

center, and so on. The first movement, re

quired of the rudder may require the pawl to be thrown to the left. In that case the operator sends three (3) wave impulses. The .first impulse turns the pawl to right, the second to center, and the third to left. The engagement of the pawl with ratchet on right was so brief. that the mechanism (which takes an appreciable time to start), was not started, hence, the rudder was not turned even slightly in the wrong direction. Supposing that further movement of the rudder in the direction last moved is required, the operator leaves the key open. Repeated actions of the differential gear ensue, the paWl-arm48 being each time thrown back toward the same ratchet wheel by spring 52. As soon as the indicator (mast or other device) shows the desired course is being taken, the operator closes the key once, which restores the controlling pawl 26 to neutral or central position.

The above has reference to the construction shown, in which one stroke of the pawl 65 is suflicient to turn the eccentric 90 degrees.

By dispensing with the clutch device the operation will be slightly changed, to the extent that all movements of the starting element &8 50-26 will then be controlled entirely by the operator. lVith the clutch, the disengagement of the pawl is automatic; without the clutch.v the operator may keep the starter engaged with either ratchet as long as desired. The latter construction is shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

The rock-shaft 11 is here shown as located away from the pivot of the starting element instead of in axial alinement therewith.

. thrusts of the The startin and provided of the pawl This shaft may carry the rudder 15,.as well as the segmental gear 70, and the parts are so shown.

71 and 7 3 are parts of the frame, 7 3 being the base thereof. 7

element is shown as a trii, pivoted on a stubshaft 7 5 with two detent rollers 76, for stopping the ratchets. 8, 8-.. The latter are made with longer and fewer teeth, to co-act with said rollers. The change in form of the angular lever starting element-74 is dueTto the absence of the clutch 14:; the'rollers'have the function points, but are withdrawn by a due to reduced friction. The ratchet are transmitted through the lever 74: itself and received by one ofthe shafts 7 5 which is braced by the web 71. The neutral posit ion of rollers 7 6 lesser force is shown in dotted lines on Fig. 10.

The lever 74 is formed with a longitudinal slot, through which passes the eccentric pin 55 carried by the disk 56. As shown, a ratchet wheel 77 having eight teeth is keyed upon theshaft of said disk. The drive pawl and the magnet core are carried by adouble yoke 78, pivotally rockable on said shaft. The solenoid-62 and spring 66 actuate the pawl, two strokes of which will shift the pin 55 ninety degrees.

Disk 56 is formed with two diametrically opposite flats or notches, and a sprmg detent 79 is arranged so as to engage one flat or notch when the starting element or lever I claim and desire 74: is in either of its operative positions.

. a swinging pawl associated with said ratchet wheel for stopping the same, a swinging clutch adapted to engage and shift said pawl from said ratchet wheel, means driven by said motor for moving said clutch to shift said pawl, means geared to said ratchet wheel for shifting the rudder, a local circuit, an electromagnet in said circuit and means whereby said magnet may shift said pawl.

2. In apparatus of the character described, a rudder, a continuously operating motor, a ratchet wheel ing pawl associated with said ratchet wheel for stopping the same, a swinging clutch shifting the rudder,

driven in Y said motor a swin adapted to engage and shift said pawl from said ratchet wheel, means driven by said motor for moving said clutch to shift said pawl, means geared to said ratchet wheel for a local circuit, an electromagnet in said circuit, means whereby said magnet may shift said pawl and means constantly tending to shift said rudder in one direction. independently of said magnetic shifting means.

3. In apparatus of the character described, a rudder, a constantly operating motor,

ratchet wheels driven by said motor, -a

swinging pawl arranged to stop either ratchet wheel,a swinging clutch adapted to engage'and shift said pawl to and from either of said ratchet w eels, means driven by said motor for moving said clutch to shift said pawl, means geared to said ratchet wheels for shifting the rudder, a local circuit, an electromagnet in said circuit, and means whereby said magnet may shift said pawl toward one of said ratchets.

4:. In a torpedo or other dirigible. object, the combination with a rudder, of a motordriven mechanism comprising a normally idle gear, means actuate by said gear for turning the rudder, an electro-magnet, a starting element actuated by said magnet and arranged to start said gear, means constantly acting to cause the rudder to move in one direction, step means-controlling the movement of the rudder by said mechanism to turn by steps of predetermined length.

5. In a torpedo or other dirigible object, the combination, with a rudder, of a motordriven mechanism comprising a normally idle gear, means actuated by said gear for turning the rudder, an electro-magnet a starting element actuated bysaid magnet and arranged to start said gear, and means tending constantly to move said starting element in a direction opposite to the pull of said magnet.

6. In a torpedo or other dirigible object, the combination with a rudder, of a motor driven 'lnechanism comprising a normally idle gear. means actuated by said gear for turning the rudder, an electro-magnet, a

and predetermined step by starting element actuated by said magnet i and arranged to start said gear, means constantly acting to move said starting element in adirection opposite to the pull of said magnet, and predetermined step by step means controlling the movement of the rud der by said mechanism to turn by steps of predetermined length.

7. In a torpedo or other dirigible object, the combination with a rudder, of a motordriven mechanism comprising two normally idle gears, means actuated. by either of said gears for turning the rudder. an electromagnet, a starting element adapted to be operativcly connected with either of said gears, and means actuated by said magnet and controlling the operative connection of the starting element with said gears.

8. In a torpedo or other dirigible object, the combination With a rudder, of amotordriven' mechanism comprising two normally idle gears, means actuated by either of said gears for turning the rudder, a ratchet Wheel connected With each of said gears; an electro- 1 magnet, a starting element adapted to alternately engage said ratchet Wheels, and means actuated by said magnet and controlling the alternate enga ement of the starting element with said ratc et Wheels.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my 15 signature in the resence of two Witnesses.

ENNEDY DOUGAN.

Witnesses:

J. D. EDGE, N. O. THON. 

